Mateo Kovacic made his 100th start for Chelsea as the Blues advanced to the semi-finals of the FA Cup following a 2-0 win over Sheffield United.
Thomas Tuchel made a whopping nine changes to the lineup from the one that was deployed during the win against Atletico Madrid in midweek. Only Kurt Zouma and Mateo Kovacic kept their places as Billy Gilmour made a rare appearance under the new Chelsea manager.
The Scottish youngster controlled the midfield along with Kovacic today, though, it is safe to say that the Croatian was on a whole different level.
Kovacic is on a mad run, especially with the arrival of Tuchel at the helm. Many questioned the Chelsea board’s decision to shell out £40m for his transfer from Real Madrid and labelled it as a panic buy because of the transfer ban. But fair play to the lad, he’s just kept on improving his game and is currently the first name on the sheet when it comes to midfield options.
The 26-year-old gave another glimpse of the confidence he carries around these days as he pulled off a ridiculous scorpion kick flick, to himself, to evade out of a tight situation during a moment in the game against Sheffield United.
A skill so good, the opposition player just couldn’t do anything but hack the Chelsea midfielder to the ground after getting outfoxed in such a manner –
